Damsel of Distress
by Silent Scribe
Summary: Quasi romantic Sesshomaru/Kagura. The last and final chapter in this series. Post manga, Sesshomaru has to find one last thing before he can let go of Kagura: his own freedom. Ch 20 "Vindicated." Rated T for some language.
1. Loathe at First Scent

_A/N: I'm sticking to the manga for a canon approach. _

**Loathe at First Scent**

Sesshomaru's nose burned. There it was again, that wretched stench of the shadow-cloaked imposter who once dared to deceive the Western Lord.

"Rin, do not move."

At Sesshomaru's stern command, the child froze in mid-step.

In a single bound he'd cleared the treetops; slashing with his new Tokijin, Sesshomaru unveiled the stinking intruder. He paused when he saw who – or rather – _what_ it was.

"A woman, is it?" Sesshomaru kept his distance, sword poised in front of him, and good several meters from her – gods, she reeked.

"Inuyasha's big brother?" A crimson-bordered fan that matched her eyes zipped before her flirtatiously. "Such a fine-looking man." The woman, Kagura she called herself, proceeded to inform Sesshomaru's half-tuned ear that she was the second incarnation of Naraku – a child, a ghost, a shade, a sliver. Her puckering lips seemed to taste bile at the routine list.

The daiyokai blinked. Well, he didn't need her or anyone else to tell him to cut down Naraku next time that hanyo slunk near.

_What are her intentions?_

She cast Sesshomaru a slanted gaze. "That sword you carry is forged from the fangs of Goshinki – another incarnation of Naraku."

"Oh? So is Naraku crying to get him back now?"

"Feh, Naraku the cold cares nothing for a dead ogre." Her eyes glittered wickedly. "Say, you have power don't you? Maybe enough to defeat Naraku?"

Before he could say anything scathing, a whipping gust blasted in his face. "Sesshomaru," Kagura called from aloft an enormous feather. "You may keep the blade."

In the next gale she'd vanished, leaving a disgruntled dog-demon in her wake.

_Magnificent. Even Naraku's underlings are arrogant._

Underling. The word sat in Sesshomaru's mind for a minute. What sort of pawn plots the overthrow of her master?

_So, she intends to use me? _

Preparing to sigh in exasperation, he inhaled – and nearly gagged. Disgusting! That wind witch's scent still lingered! His nose had started running – how undignified!

She wasn't Naraku, but somehow this woman, he figured, would cause more trouble than she was worth. Sesshomaru permitted a sniffle. Doubtless, she was the harbinger of distress – his nose told him so.

--

_A/N: So how was that for a beginning? The Sesshomaru/Kagura fanfictions I've done are only two (not counting this): "Renewal" and "My Next Breath" (a chapter from "Twelve Tails of a Taiyokai"). I myself look forward to seeing how this collection will turn out. Reviews appreciated._ :D


	2. Holdin' Out For A Hero

_A/N: You kinda do wonder what Kagura does between those odd episodes. _

**Holdin' Out For A Hero**

The air smelled sweet; but then even the sulfur from Mount Fuji would have been ambrosia to Kagura – anything was heaven compared to Naraku's suffocating lair.

She sighed, lying back on the feather, arms stretched skyward. It was moments like these that she felt powerful, unbound, free – and happy. Kagura could count the number of times she experienced this calm on one hand. Not good.

_Imagine, girl,_ she thought to herself. _Every day could be like this. No one ordering you around, you wouldn't have to worry about sneaking out. You'd be liberated._

Kagura's mouth screwed up.

_No, it wouldn't be liberation. It'd be how I was meant to live. I am the wind._

But then did the wind have its pulse at another's beck and call? Who could save her?

Slowly, Kagura smiled. Sesshomaru was strong enough. A pureblooded demon who possessed the Tokijin – Naraku would be on his knees in no time. Surely the daiyokai had ample strength; she'd felt the raw power radiating from him those past days ago.

Kagura shivered as she relived the moment; but maybe those delicious chills had nothing to do with Sesshomaru's aura.

"Such a fine-looking man." Repeating the words aloud worked the smile into a grin. She clawed at the sky once more, then dolefully remembered where she was headed.

--

"Kagura dear, what took you?"

"Well, let's think, between doing your laundry and fetching tea – " At the gentle pulse of impending menace in her chest, Kagura's sarcasm stopped dead.

"You were saying…dear?"

"I'm back, aren't I?"

"Yes. You are."

"Agh!" Kagura cried out as pain jolted her. "Why?"

"Not one shard for show. You didn't think your little outings came without a price, did you?"

Kagura had not been in this realm long, but she knew malice when it sneered down at her. She could read the demented pleasure Naraku stole from watching her writhe in agony, she remembered a similar scene passing a village. Adolescent boys who'd caught a deer and the cretin who ran a glinting knife along the animal's throat until its eyes went white with terror and foam dribbled from its mouth.

_This cur is no different._

"Do we understand each other? Kagura?"

"Yes." _Bastard. Just you wait. _

"There's a lass. You may go now."

_I go when I please_ – how she wished she could spit that into his smug face. She stomped out of the room.

_Damn it all._

Yes, Kagura could scarcely stand it, but if she held out just a bit longer her trump card would come around. She was very patient, too – the wind witch waited one whole night.

The next evening, Kagura found herself staring into her sister's mirror.

"What do you mean Naraku's gone?"

Kanna mumbled some cryptic reply that Kagura dismissed as crock. Nothing short of an apocalypse was going to drag Naraku out of this world.

"Well, if it isn't that young wolf chieftain – Koga, or something such." Kagura's eyes sparkled like Shikon shards. "I don't need to wait around for Naraku's orders."

If that conniving half-demon really was out of the picture for now…

_It's time to get the ball rolling._

_--_

_A/N: Thanks for reading and I honestly can't wait to post the next chapter. _


	3. Invasive as the Wind

**Invasive as the Wind**

The blade was a swordsman's very soul. Sesshomaru occasionally speculated if he had one, but certainly his latest weapon was its manifestation. Tokijin was the gleaming seal of its wielder's equality and worth to Tetsusaiga. His superior handling of a mere ogre's fang cemented it – with one sullying aspect. Who had "allowed" him to have it?

"You may keep the blade," she'd said. Never had anyone dared address the Western Lord with such affronting equality. Or superiority. Poison talons shredded any opposition.

Then he thought of something else she'd uttered. "Such a fine-looking man." Sesshomaru had never considered his temporary form handsome. The greater forms of demons, especially daiyokai, stuck out like sore thumbs in the human world. Looking like he did allowed for a more innocuous presence.

Sesshomaru absently traced the mark on his forehead. Did she really think him attractive? Such blatant flattery! Did that woman even bother to refer to him with his proper title? Kagura, wasn't it?

A warm evening breeze swirled over Sesshomaru's fur, and he suppressed the urge to shudder. First his nose, now his mind –

_Kagura is proving to be an invasive woman._

He breathed deeply, distracting himself with the night air. Sesshomaru's nose diligently studied the currents.

"Naraku's scent?"

"By 'Naraku,' you mean that scoundrel who's plotted so insolently against you in the past, my lord?"

"It _is_ his scent," he mumbled to himself more than Jaken.

"And he was here?! How can you tell it's _him_?"

Sesshomaru caught the insinuation. Familiar winds violently kicked up, tossing the imp sky-high.

_Doubtless, Naraku's smell is even more putrid and vile than –_

"Yo! Sesshomaru!"

_Hers._

_-- _

_A/N: I'm trying to avoid reiterating what the series already covers, but such that the story still flows. So I have to play on interactions off-screen; hope I'm doing all right so far. _


	4. Different Kinds of Dead

_A/N: Set just slightly after Naraku releases Kagura from her prison in the castle basement (see Volume 22)._

**Different Kinds of Dead**

"Kagura," Sesshomaru droned. "You are dead, are you not?"

The wind witch cringed at the searing truth in his words. Still the defiant sneer wasn't wiped away completely. "What the hell do you mean by that?"

Sesshomaru pursed his lips. "If you go through with your intended treason, Naraku will undoubtedly kill you. One squeeze of that heart he holds ought to suffice." He examined unusually long, white nails. "Now, if you opt to live in servitude, Naraku will simply dispose of you when you outlive your usefulness."

A tick started in Kagura's jaw. "Well, if you know all this why won't you, a great demon, help me gain my freedom?!"

He stood still for a moment, only his hair whipping about from the howling wind. "You are none of my concern. I don't help creatures that are already dead."

"In that case" – she tore the feather from her hair – "I don't see how we're any different!"

Even after he was alone, Sesshomaru still stared at the starlit sky for a long time.

Scarcely over a week ago she had sought him out and fired off the most absurd plea. Release her from Naraku? Was this woman asking to be saved? Ridiculous, this was no feudal fairytale where valiant warriors go and rescue damsels in distress. Sesshomaru had warned her. If Kagura wasn't prepared to go it alone, she should have not contemplated treason. It certainly wasn't any of his concern. Diplomatically, for the Western Lord to throw in his lot over a mere female meant absolute ruin. Sesshomaru personally knew predecessors of the same mistake.

He lengthened his stride, trying to outpace his racing mind.

_She lumps me with her? How?_

Sesshomaru stalked over to a pond. His reflection quivered in the ripples. A corporeal dog-demon, complete with a pulse, stared back – and just stared.

Amber eyes with slit pupils, but bottomless without feeling or passion. Did one need a pulse for passion? Could a drowning sea of scarlet harbor life?

"Ridiculous."

Pivoting on heel, Sesshomaru left - light-whip snaking back to his talons and the reflection scattered.


	5. Hostage

**Hostage**

After her last encounter with Sesshomaru, Kagura didn't quite mind snatching up that girl-whelp and dragging her off to be Naraku's hostage.

With the sudden change in altitude, the child had mercifully gone unconscious – Kagura wasn't sure if she could've dealt with a caterwauling brat.

_So lemme get this straight; according to old Patchwork-and-Puppetry, Sesshomaru will go charging in sword drawn and fur flying for some kid…but not to give me a hand? What's his deal?_

She examined her catch.

_What are you to him? You look human enough – downright defenseless. Geez, what a liability! You must slow him down quite a bit. Wonder why Sesshomaru doesn't mind you._

The child moaned, clutching the watermelon she'd been picking tighter, little fingers grasping – until they closed around a thumb.

_Guess I'm already a big girl, huh? Sesshomaru probably can't stand anyone who can look him in the eye – that's why you and his toady get to play tag-along. Makes twisted sense._

An abandoned house in sight, Kagura descended then scooped up her bundle in one arm while throwing the sliding screen open with the other.

"Hey, Kohaku, here's your charge."

Rin was unceremoniously dumped in a corner of the room. Kohaku's unregistering eyes blinked.

_Creepy kid._ "I'm going to watch the show." She thought for a minute. "Try not to do anything that'll get yourself killed. The girl is Sesshomaru's."

When Kagura airborne again, the coming spectacle consumed her mind. Simultaneously she rooted for Sesshomaru, her possible savior, and still hoped Naraku would get in a couple good hits – just to prune the dog-demon's overgrown ego.

Not until the next mistral galloped under that into Kagura's mind trickled the irony of what she told Kohaku.

"_The girl is Sesshomaru's."_

Dogs were protective to a fault over his possessions - territory, humans, blades - but could the "free wind" belong to anyone?

Trapped by her own declaration of freedom! She shrieked in frustration, but the words echoed louder.

_"You, Kagura, are none of my concern."_

_--_

_A/N: I know it's been a while since I updated, but I've been swamped with work in preparation for the dreaded AP exams (there goes my freedom, Kag) and I'm still mourning a fanfic I lost to a computer crash and never got to post. (WAAAH!) Oh well, more to come! _


	6. Waiting in the Wings

_A/N: Between exams and a multitude of other obstacles, I know it's been a while since I last updated "Damsel of Distress", so I thank you all for your patience. Here's a fresh installment in addition to the altogether new story "Lucky Dog." _

**Waiting in the Wings**

Kagura skimmed across the sky, the night replaying in her head for the seventeenth time.

_Girl kidnapped. Sesshomaru fights Naraku. Tokijin blasts Naraku's disgusting bits into yester Jidai, which end up swallowing Sesshomaru anyway?!_

Something about the last fragment didn't make sense. Kagura had left the scene for but a breath of heartbeats to "take care of" – _Pah, more like egg along_ – Inuyasha and when she returned a vat of coagulated shouki pulsed in Sesshomaru's place.

Now she cringed, unbelieving. It took Naraku's jolting cackle to cinch it.

_He's after the demonic purity._

With every fiber of her being, she just prayed Sesshomaru wasn't dead.

Painted lips screwed up at the peculiar notion. Inuyasha was on his way, he certainly proved strong enough to defeat Naraku, why should she worry about that arrogant dog? She'd have her freedom either way. It shouldn't have mattered.

Another eerie throb from below and Kagura's chest tightened.

"_Do you want to come back inside of me, Kagura dear?"_

"No!" she cried aloud. Hands wrung the sides of her plume and the skirmish became hauntingly personal.

Moments later, Inuyasha's Wind Scar ripped through Naraku's "impenetrable" barrier, but the wind witch didn't even blink.

_Where is he?_

Tetsusaiga's aftershock split the mound open and Kagura held her breath expecting to see a collection of smoothly sucked bones.

"Ironic, isn't it, Naraku? That the pieces of your body meant to absorb me only served as a shield against Inuyasha's Wind Scar."

The corners of her mouth curled. Although Inuyasha drawled it a million times, to Kagura only Sesshomaru's voice could give the next line the titillation of freedom itself.

"Naraku, prepare to die."


	7. On the Sidelines

**On the Sidelines**

Kohaku wasn't supposed to survive. Whether or not the girl lived was neither here nor there; but according to Naraku's design, Kohaku's existence had to be scratched out – quite literally.

Sesshomaru's talons cracked audibly. In a wind witch's chest, the memory of a pulse thrummed.

Was he really going to go through with it?

_Isn't it enough that the girl's safe? _

Five measured heartbeats later, a decision was reached – Kohaku plopped listlessly in the grass. Amber eyes tracked the boy as he dashed into the foliage. Only when a pinnate form rose overhead did an eyebrow quirk.

As one would a dog table scraps, Sesshomaru tossed his half-brother an explanation or two, then departed; Inuyasha would become too nosy otherwise and there were more pressing matters to consider. Rin was at his heels once more, but the demon's engrossing thoughts built their own barrier.

If Naraku had anticipated that boy-whelp would die here tonight, what use was Kagura's presence? There would have been no live passenger to retrieve.

"Lord Sesshomaru?"

His little ward was offered a slanted gaze.

"Why did Kohaku act like that?"

"He was under Naraku's influence."

Rin didn't quite grasp the word, so she tried elsewhere. "Was Kagura also there because of Naraku's…what you said."

"I'm not certain if she was there by Naraku's power," he admitted, more or less to himself.

Rin nodded and stored the information away, but her guardian still seemed pensive. "I think," she offered, "that Kagura wanted to be there in case anything went wrong."

Sesshomaru almost smirked. "How's that?"

"Well, I think even though I knew you'd come, I don't think Kagura was too sure. Maybe she wanted to protect me from Kohaku – y'know, just in case."

Now he did let a half-smile creep up. Surely the strangest ideas came from children! That wind witch couldn't have fathomed what this child meant to him. Sesshomaru tried to banish the thought from his mind – but didn't fight when it lingered. Who was to say? Kagura was, after all, watching from the sidelines.


	8. Far From the Tree

**Far from the Tree**

"Rin, don't eat that," Sesshomaru commanded two seconds before his ward was about to sink her teeth into what appeared to be a delectable apple – its crimson skin bright and smooth.

"Why not?"

The demon refrained from verbal response; a claw zipped through the core right between Rin's hands.

"Eww! Gross!" She grimaced as Sesshomaru wiped his talon on Jaken's unsuspecting cap. "Look at all these worms!" Rin tossed the apple back to tree from which it'd fallen. "I guess you smelled the rot, huh?"

Sesshomaru barely nodded.

As Rin tossed the stale fruit away, she noticed another nestled in the grass.

"Leave it," the daiyokai instructed before she could even pick it up.

"Why?" Rin picked the second up anyway.

"Have you knotholes for eyes?" Jaken snapped. "Just look at the deformities of that thing. It's all lumpy and misshapen. You want to put _that_ in your mouth?"

"But it's still firm, Master Jaken, not like the other one. And besides, I'm hungry!" Her stomach growled assent.

"Fine, go ahead, eat it! I couldn't care less if you keeled over and – AWP!"

Sesshomaru's boot crashed into Jaken's spine. His talons were outstretched and Rin wordlessly held up the apple. One _zwick_ and two pieces collapsed in her palms. The demon's brow crinkled, perplexed.

"See?" Rin beamed triumphantly. "It _is_ edible!"

Sesshomaru shrugged, but she wasn't finished.

"You know, this reminds me of something Mother once told me. That people are like apples."

He didn't bother blinking, Rin was already drawing breath.

"Well, people and apples come in different shapes and sizes. Like this one." Rin held up a half before chomping into it. "Then" – she swallowed quickly – "you get some that look pretty on the outside, but they're really just rotten to the core. Like that one." She pointed to the discarded apple.

Sesshomaru couldn't help himself; he scoffed, "Didn't your mother ever hear, 'The apple doesn't fall far from the tree'?"

Rin bobbed her head. "But I don't believe that."

Now Sesshomaru blinked.

"I met Kagura."

Eyebrows shot up.

"She's kinda rough on the outside and I'm not sure how sweet she is…" Rin chewed methodically. "But she never hurt me when I was kidnapped. I don't think Naraku would've acted like that. She's really not like him."

Sesshomaru stood stationary. Jaken's cackle shattered the silence. "Only the ramblings of a naïve child!"

"Nuh-uh!"

When the quibbling escalated to child chucking rotten bits and imp brandishing Head Staff, the dog-demon collected his party and strolled off.

His thoughts trailed along, too.

How many spans away had Kagura fallen from Naraku? Perhaps a fathom? Is it really even the same tree?

His innate curiosity was whetted. He _had_ to know.

Sesshomaru turned his nose to the wind.

--

_A/N: I know it's been a while since I last updated, but with summer hopefully it'll be more frequent. _


	9. Damsel in Distress

_A/N: So I was hung up on the topic for the next chapter for the longest time. What does Sesshomaru do now? Should he do some more pointless pondering? Then I remembered this fanfic isn't abut him! Sorry, hon, but a witch sorceress takes centerstage here; it's practically named after her anyway. _

**Damsel in Distress **

The plan seemed simple enough. Go to the gate between this world and the next and gain entrance. How hard could crossing over be, especially when you didn't have a soul to worry about?

Kagura had thought it strange that Hakudoshi wasn't going himself – unlike their "parent", the little monster wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty – but when she was bathed in that blinding light of Beyond, the reason was illuminated perfectly.

Scarlet pupils dilated with terror, the wind witch shrieked as the radiance reduced her flowing sleeve to stony ruin. She dove for cover behind the accompanying demonic army. In the light, they quickly crumbled to so much rubble.

The granite gate guardian leered down at the lone survivor. "Do you still wish to pass?"

Kagura's anger flared. She'd been made that scheming little snot's test dummy! "And why would I want to do that?!"

Gozu didn't even flinch at her outburst. Automatically he and Mezu droned, "Then the Gate shall close."

Fine, you do that, she fumed, flying off and trying to ignore the bare, singed skin. That deadly light had effortlessly seared through layers of fabric. Only a second shy of consuming her arm.

Maybe she should have asked to keep the Gate opened a little longer, so the "boss" could have his look. One way or another, Kagura would see that Hakudoshi brat tossed in there, too.

--

The world spun and it took a conscious effort not to blackout.

"Does it hurt, Kagura? Naraku just squeezed your heart."

No, kidding, Bastard Junior. 

Damn, she should have figured this devil-spawn could regenerate like the little creepy carbon-copy he was. She'd acted out of hasty rage, letting emotions get the better of her and ultimately Hakudoshi.

Damn, damn, damn!

Knocked down by a runt. Just like what should have been in her chest, Kagura's pride was terribly bruised.

"…so remember that I am directly connected to Naraku," Hakudoshi concluded. "He knows your thoughts."

Then why isn't he screaming for mercy? Kagura jutted out a defiant lip.

The pale demon smiled as a little boy might when he just yanked the wings off a fly. Go ahead and crawl.

Staggering to her feet, Kagura tugged her hair piece tighter. Her eyes didn't leave Hakudoshi, even when he arrogantly gave her his back. She was going to need serious, sword-swinging backup to take this thing out – hell, she'd drag Sesshomaru here by his fluffy mane if it came down to it.

The wind witch rubbed right above her left breast where the pain flared worst.

Gods, where's a man in shining armor when you need one?


	10. The Only One

**The Only One**

Kagura wasn't sure if she could tolerate the sight of another little kid again – even around Sesshomaru.

_I really don't see how he copes with it. _

Kagura leaned back in the slope of her feather, undetected by the ones she watched.

_Does that kid ever shut up? How does Sesshomaru stand this? No wonder he strolls off every now and then, the girl would drive him crazy. _

She scanned the field – it was rife with flowers, but not one dog-demon.

_He sure has a bad habit of leaving them alone. Maybe he wants someone to steal that twerp. Doesn't he figure Naraku could send one of us by and pick up an easy hostage? That I might take her? Arrogant moron. _

Suddenly, Kagura felt lightening race up her spine. The breeze had shifted and trouble rode on its back. Deftly, the kaze-yokai swirled her plume, her eyes narrowing to ruby chips.

Just off in the distance, a small flock of those birds-without-feathers flapped nearer. Kagura could easily gauge how pitifully lost they were. Separated from Princess Abi, they squawked mindlessly – until one sighted prey haplessly picking daisies less than a league out of reach.

Kagura didn't care for the glow in the beady sockets of those blood-collectors. They would interfere with her search.

"Wind Blades' Dance!" The crimson bordered fan cut through the air and jagged rifts tore up the first two. Thick-headed survivors circled in, squawking vengeance.

Aloft on her feathered perch, knees bent, her weapon poised, she wove through the birds scattering sinews, twisting ligaments, sweeping away bone. A killing dance in midair.

The last one fell with its beak agape, dead before it hit the earth. And no where near Rin.

"Pah! I'm the only one allowed to give Sesshomaru grief," the wind witch exulted. She glanced back – what was her original intent again?

_Oh, yeah._

With dart-like precision, she dropped before the imp, that bumbling sycophant. "Hey, is Sesshomaru around here?"

"Fool!" Jaken piped, scooting in front of his charge as if Kagura was the one who'd meant harm. "If Lord Sesshomaru was here your head would be rolling by now!"

_He's useless._ "Very true."

She eyeballed the kid – such a defenseless thing! – then plucked a feather from her hair and was off.

_Guess I'll have to find Mr. Trump Card myself. After all, I'm also the only one who can give him decent directions. _


	11. Scents and Sensibility

**Scents and Sensibility**

The stench of carnage was almost unbearable, that it carried the filthy, metallic odor of slaughtered humans made Sesshomaru want to wretch. Now _this_ was a nose-burning smell. Naraku must be nearby.

Still, there was that encounter with the hanyo's female incarnation a few nights before this massacre. There had been something different about her.

--

Kagura stretched, toes gripping the earth and fingers clawing for the stars. Her spine extended as if with the release of a burden.

Not that Sesshomaru had any inkling what sort of brassy whelp she'd escaped – just that her chest rose and fell freely, that all those rigid lines melted to relaxed curves.

Deciding to conceal his presence, the daiyokai clung to his shadowed foliage. Perhaps as she grew more at ease the wind sorceress would let slide more about her whereabouts. He'd let her be a bit longer; the moonlight flashing on her ebony hair was most…becoming.

"HA!!"

Sesshomaru flinched. Kagura's fiery gaze was focused on the flare of her unfurled fan – pointing right at him.

Slowly, Sesshomaru's claws flexed. She hadn't noticed him, she was just – gods, what was this strange woman doing? He stepped forward for a keener inspection and twig snapped.

_Blast. _

Razor wind sliced the tree closest to him.

"Sesshomaru." Kagura's voice didn't omit her surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Searching for Naraku," he automatically droned. She was all lines again; then he remembered her earlier stance. "Are you training?"

"Tch, no. I was preparing to…" Her fan snapped shut with her mouth.

Sesshomaru didn't care to press the matter. Naraku obviously wasn't here, but – curiosity gnawed inside. "To do what?"

Was he showing genuine interest? Kagura wasn't sure, but she answered. "I was going to dance."

As always, Sesshomaru was logical about it. No point in rushing her, so he leaned against a tree and waited. "Go on."

Kagura's face was turning as red as her eyes. "Well, I can't now!!"

"Why not?"

"You're watching!"

Sesshomaru frowned. She said that as if _he_ was the idiot. "What does my audience matter?"

"Because...it's...I want to be alone!"

"For what? That's stupid."

"So are you!"

Claws cracked; Sesshomaru had shredded many others for impertinence alone. Instead, he muttered, "You don't have to acknowledge me."

"I can't!"

_Redundancy is only compounding the petulance of this_, Sesshomaru groused. _But why do I grow flustered? Damn woman._

Glaring at him, fan in her teeth, Kagura reached up to tighten her hair. She hated that haughty look he was tossing her. Why was this jerk here anyway? He'd said plenty of times now he wasn't going to free her, so what was the point? He must have smelled Princess Abi's birds by now, was he really that clueless?

She tugged on the knot violently.

Sesshomaru just stood there, maybe not even breathing. He certainly wasn't asking any questions, but did that crinkle in his brow mean he was trying to remember something?

Whatever. Her patience was up and Kagura was off.

Sesshomaru's eyes traced the feather as it vanished into the distance; he never did get to watch her dance.

The wind swept over his face, Kagura's scent flowing in its many grooves. Only it didn't make him feeling like retching now.

_An adjustment_, Sesshomaru decided.

--

Gazing over the edge of cliff where his nose led, the daiyokai scowled. Last he saw her, he'd forgotten to ask Kagura about Naraku. That was the whole point wasn't it? What had distracted him?

A mistral kicked up with someone shouting, "There you are!"

The owner of that new scent.

He leapt up close to her.

_Naraku. Prioritize and make her talk._

But dog-demon's olfactory senses were buzzing; there was something else to ascertain.

--

_A/N: After coming up with the title for this chapter I realized how horribly my English teacher to-be has ridden me into the ground with Jane Austen novels. To make a pun out of one…sad, very sad. But hey, I got through_ Emma _(shudder) and now I'm back in the saddle. I'll update early next week! Until then, comments and critique are most appreciated!_ :D


	12. Only an Informant

**Only an Informant**

With Sesshomaru towering over her, Kagura swallowed and had to remember to breathe.

_Well, that helps!_ She scowled, inhaling his heady, masculine scent. The pull wasn't demonic charm, not the bewitching allure of a first-class mononoke. It had nothing to do with being a daiyokai and everything related to being male.

_Damn, he's intoxicating. Huh, and he's biting for once. _

Sesshomaru leaned in and Kagura was consumed with how his long silvery wisps would make a perfect canopy as she unconsciously parted her lips. His hot breath scalded her face, but she strained to catch his words anyway.

"You said this gate was closed, implying that there is another."

The wind witch blinked, faltering. An abrupt crackle of yoki jolted her back.

"You were saying," Sesshomaru prompted.

_Right._ Kagura sighed and stopped standing on tip-toe – for whatever stupid reason that had been. "Um, there is a second Gate to the Netherworld, but I don't think you'll be able to come out alive."

She got a move on. Behind her, boots crunched solidly on stone, but in her chest solitude panged.

_There'll be plenty of time to dream once Patchwork-and-Puppetry's dead. Can't get lame right now, girl. To the pretty face back there you're just the informant. Steer him to Naraku and all's well. He can't care much about his own life if he's going to take on that fiend, so he sure as hell doesn't care about me. _

Sesshomaru noticed how Kagura kept glancing back every so often. Did she not think he was following? He started to match her two quickened steps for each of his easy strides, but she only walked faster. How irritating. Killing wasn't an option, it never crossed Sesshomaru's mind – this woman was such a terribly useful guide.


	13. Testing the Waters

**Testing the Waters**

_"Don't count on me to save you; I don't rescue damsels in distress."_

Granted Sesshomaru had never breathed those words, but the weight of his glare, distain in his step, and snarled every syllable.

He remained rigid to this idea. Last Kagura checked, centuries-old daiyokai were rather set in their ways. Her surprise sky-rocketed when after plummeting headlong into that river she woke up on solid earth with a fur-cloaked specter in the corner of her vision.

_Huh, the popinjay has a sense of integrity. _

On a sizeable boulder, Sesshomaru sunned himself dry. Integrity was not something he acted upon and daren't make a habit. Possession and even convenience were closer to his incentives. His charge had tried to save Kagura, his vassal had followed. Neither was successful, both would have drowned if not for Sesshomaru. The wind witch, useful as she was, wasn't a priority. Wasn't a subordinate, she didn't belong to him. She had simply managed to fit neatly into the crook of his arm.

His sleeve still soaked and heavy, Sesshomaru nodded as if answering someone else. Then he heard someone cough; Kagura had come to.

That the gaping hole in her back had mended so rapidly reminded the demon of how she was always going on about missing her heart, desiring to undermine and overthrow Naraku who held it. Somehow actually seeing the empty space lent validity to the claim. Sesshomaru looked away.

Kagura blinked. Then realized just how much of her kimono was in tatters and how little remained. Half-modestly, she gave Sesshomaru her back and made a rocky transition to the topic of Naraku's latest machinations. The dog-demon now tilted his head when she spoke to him, how his ears occasionally pricked with the fluctuation of her voice. Though there seemed no variation when she dropped in bits of flattery. Well, they were just facts. She stared up at Sesshomaru – expressive a glacier.

_Yup, just the facts, ma'am. _

The daiyokai waited patiently for Kagura to finish; perhaps she would give him something useful in the end. While she talked, his eyes wandered to the spider burn mark that ravaged her back. If she were freed, would that scar be erased? Would her flesh be pure and untainted? Sesshomaru could never fathom being ordered by someone else, much less branded by them – like a slave.

Suddenly, Kagura pinned him with an unwavering gaze. Even now on the cusp of death she was a commanding woman, strong-minded and unyielding. Unwittingly, Sesshomaru shifted from one foot to the other. When she chucked the jyaki detector his way he let Jaken catch it.

Kagura rose, still addressing only with her back. Except without the layers of fabric and her now stooped shoulders, the gesture lost its arrogance and somehow smacked of vulnerability.

Sesshomaru's eyes traveled up her back to study her face – how much had this small display of weakness cost her? Other questions poured in: Why had she flown out here so far on her own? Was she that determined to escape Naraku's control? Was she so courageous? Or foolhardy?

Feather whisking her off, Kagura's gaze still lingered on the Western Lord. These small moments were escapes alone and if this was her last chance to see him, she could manage discussing Naraku's pointless affairs.

_To tell Sesshomaru anything more_ – Kagura smiled meekly – _that would have taken real guts. _

--

_A/N: Finally updated! Though I'm more apologetic for letting a_ Dragnet _line slip in during a dramatic scene._


	14. Catch the Wind

**Catch the Wind**

Kagura blinked fiercely forbidding the tears that stung the corners of her eyes. Deliberately, she rubbed the sores on her neck reliving the pain and hoping to revive the anger. Anger was better than pitiful, weak sadness. Naraku didn't crumble at tears – she scrubbed knuckles across her face – at least rage is what that creature deserved.

"You've been doing your job well," a silken voice drawled from where the slimy tentacle retreated. "Why the attitude still?"

Kagura stiffened. How badly she wanted to show him a real attitude, this sadistic bastard who got his kicks abusing her.

"Smile, dear," came the mocking tone. "You're so much the prettier when you do."

It was no small effort to sculpt her mouth into a flat line, but when she heard the tentacle slither across the floor again her lips curled more readily.

_Just picture his slow, agonizing death,_ Kagura thought. _Imagine how he'll be the one to go down screaming. _

"There's a wench." Broken-glass laughter tinged her spine. "You may go now, dear."

_Slow and screaming_ was her mantra as she made for the exit.

Naraku smiled cruelly, watching Kagura soar off.

How much longer could the treacherous little witch provide amusement?

He stroked the pulsing organ fluttered in his clutch like a frightened, helpless bird.

_Indeed, how much?_

--

The demon's burning ocher gaze cut through the darkness and fell upon his retainer's sleeping form. Making slightly less noise than a night owl, Sesshomaru retrieved the jyaki detector. He fingered it pensively, was this little crystal to be trusted? Kagura had given it to him and, no matter her voiced abhorrence, she was Naraku's underling. In the daiyokai's logic that meant the woman would do as told.

_But she is rather persistent, continuously going to such great lengths; does she need my aid so desperately? _

He remembered asking her if she wanted to use him.

_"No one else is strong enough to defeat Naraku."_

Kagura's response had been roundabout but – Sesshomaru tilted his head – honest. In all his years, few who knew better had ever been straightforward with the daiyokai.

_Or so coy with flattery. _

Often any praise was heaped upon the Western Lord in nauseating bulk. They usually wanted something – favor, protection, alligiance – and the stench of their pretenciousness made his nose crinkle. Yet Kagura's scent had never wavered with her adulation.

_So then she really believes her own words?How can she be so naïve? _

Sesshomaru remembered Rin's innocent remark after their last encounter.

_"But I think she _likes _Lord Sesshomaru!"_

"A child's talk." The daiyokai prepared to drop the shard back into Jaken's lap when a sudden magnetism compelled him to wrap his fingers more tightly around it. The jyaki detector gleamed with the approach of another demon.

Summoning his own shimmering nebula of power, Sesshomaru took to the skies. He knew this yokai – and her piquant scent.

Kagura didn't need eyes in the back of her head to tell her that there was company. "Get lost," she huffed.

"I, Sesshomaru, take orders from no one."

"Wish I could say the same," Kagura grumbled to herself, almost completely absorbed in some sort of past conversation.

The daiyokai was grateful that she never saw the rare disbelief that distorted his features. No one could ever tie him down. They could try to deceive him, but they would never coerce this Sesshomaru. Surely this lady with that rebellious flare in her eyes felt likewise. Only one means to find out; Sesshomaru would have to test it.

"Hey, you've been awfully quiet back there," Kagura said, the gruffness ill-concealed. When there was no response, she swerved on her plume only to stare at Sesshomaru's billowing hakama. "What the hell?" She looked a little lower and saw the expected swirling cloud of yoki. Was he trying to outdo her? Kagura increased her altitude until she was the one leering down. She scoffed. "You're such an arrogant dog."

Sesshomaru's reply wasn't with words, he just flew higher.

"Hey!" She scaled the air again only to be overtaken moments later.

Kagura wasn't sure how long they went on like that; she soared above him, then he ascended enough to make her smaller. She smirked and fired off her mouth and Sesshomaru…just kept that damn, phlegmatic expression. But then, no matter how many times this odd dance repeated, he made no inclination to stop either.

The wind witch cruised below for a bit, then climbed slightly, subtly until she was just one head above her competitor. Sesshomaru didn't seem to notice this time, but when Kagura glanced back he was right beside her and met her eye to eye – not higher or lower.

"Well, this is better." Kagura turned to face the dog-demon, but he simply stared straight ahead. There might have escaped a soft "huh" from his throat or that could have just been her desire for some kind of response or another from the statue with fur. She couldn't stand the silence much longer and blurted, "You could at least stop looking at me like you want me."

Slowly, Sesshomaru turned his gaze to rest on her. Amber eyes slid from her face and wandered lazily down to the wisps of her plume. Looking back up, he spoke softly and carefully. "I should be man enough to state what I want."

Kagura's jaw crashed to her chest and Sesshomaru seized the opportunity to fly higher.

"So…what…you actually…?"

"I never said anything so specific," trailed the reply from somewhere above.

Collecting herself, the wind sorceress' eyebrows crossed together in willful defiance. "But you just said – "

"Believe what you will," Sesshomaru cut her off.

Kagura brooded in her own space of the stratosphere for a minute. When she looked up…He was so close! Those warm, smoldering eyes peered close with slitted pupils dialating wider. His hot breath smelled delicious and Kagura dreamed to suck it in. She felt the base beneath her shrink, like the world was falling away. And it was. Kagura gasped realizing a second too late she'd lost all control of her feather!

She yelped, but before she could squeeze her eyes shut the solid support returned. Surprise suspended all coherent thought; the strength in that one arm was tremendous.

Sesshomaru jostled his load a bit, she was clutching too tightly to his mane, but the perplexity of her scent bid him closer. Without warning, he buried his nose into her stomach and Kagura was terribly aware of how her breasts rested on his head. Somehow the wind witch doubted anyone had ever gotten this close to Sesshomaru before.

"Hey, whoa there! What do you think you're – ?"

Before she could protest further, Sesshomaru resurfaced, impassive as ever and her feather between his teeth.

"Uhh…thanks," Kagura mumbled, plucking out her plume. She sat there awkwardly for a second until Sesshomaru curtly ordered, "Get off."

Quickly the wind witch conjured her feather to full-size again and scrambled aboard, anxious to escape his suddenly stern gaze.

"It's getting late," she abruptly stated, staring off to the sinking moon in the west.

"Hmm," Sesshomaru droned distractedly.

"I'm going." Kagura had perfectly composed by now. "Later."

"Take care."

A disconnected pulse skipped a beat and hands clutched for the feather. "How's that?"

Sesshomaru glared at her askance. "How's what?"

Kagura made a speedy recovery. "Nothing. Must be the wind."

A mistral howled dolefully over the dog-demon. Went it died he stared in the same direction. Sesshomaru's gaze didn't waver until Kagura was a speck among many stars, but the scent he'd tried memorizing tingled his nose again. He snorted.

_Of course, it could only be the wind. _

--

_A/N: Updated at last, I swear I'll finish this set by the end of the year! So how was the chapter? Dear reader, you have no idea how tempting it was to write a kiss scene into this chapter. As it is I think I was pushing the envelope with the physical contact; did that work out or was it too out of character even for Sesshomaru? Does anyone want a kiss in this? Critique always appreciated. _


	15. In A Heartbeat

**In a Heartbeat**

She had to mentally replay Moryomaru's words again before she could make sense of them and, when she did, Kagura swallowed hard. The hairs on the nape of her neck stood at attention. She had to clench her jaw so the chattering of teeth wouldn't betray her.

"Sesshomaru, who gave you that jyaki detector?"

The time it took him to answer expanded from a breath of heartbeats to a span of hours for Kagura. The question echoed a thousand times over, her terror sinking deeper.

She knew him well enough by now that the daiyokai wouldn't lie. He was too powerful to be concerned with the effects his words might have on others, lying was a waste of time that muddled details and tangled negotiations. Deception had been what sparked Sesshomaru's vendetta against Naraku – an insult that would penance nothing less than the dog-demon's cold ire.

The only thing more frightening than Sesshomaru's unmitigated wrath was his blatant disregard for friend or foe in battle.

If the pounding blood weren't so deafening in her own ears, Kagura would've bet Sesshomaru didn't have too many friends to worry about here -- his own brother had already been issued a death threat for interference.

This was the man she wanted to kill Naraku? Well, apparently his means were more direct than she expected; harsh, ruthless, and heaven help the hapless fools in the crossfire. Sesshomaru was self-serving, he wouldn't lie for the life of anyone beneath himself.

_I gave him the aura detector and he's going to oust me._

Sesshomaru adjusted his grip on the Tokijin and Kagura felt her windpipe tighten. A strike from Moryomaru, a squeeze of her heart – she tensed and braced herself for either punishment.

_Go on, say it. Tell them who gave you that shard. _

The wind witch resigned herself for death, maybe then it wouldn't be so painful.

"I tracked the scent."

Scarlet eyes reopened.

Sesshomaru remained poised with his blade, still looking like he'd sooner perish of terminal boredom – lids half-open, mouth slightly parted. By contrast, Kagura's jaw nearly swung open. The daiyokai never ceased to amaze.

_Why is he covering for me?_

Sesshomaru still hadn't lied, but somewhere along the line – with renewed hope unfurling in her chest – Kagura had gained his respect.

--

_A/N: I didn't want to reiterate the whole battle with Moryomaru, but I did want to catch that one pivotal moment in there. Here's hoping it was adequately conveyed. _


	16. Dance of Dragons

**Dance of Dragons**

A foot dangling over feather's edge, Kagura let the enlarged plume cradle her spine. Only the stars and a sliver of moon were company tonight as she drifted aloft.

_Aloof or aloft? What the hell's the difference? _

She was separated from the ground, from the Earth itself, but not from the world.

_Definitely not aloof._

What may as well have been an iron ball sat in the wind witch's chest with an invisible but most despised chain tapering out. It had been shortened considerably by the Goryumaru debacle. Kagura didn't want to know what would happen when she ran out of links.

Now that she finally had a moment to herself it was plagued by unrelenting fear. A hounding urgency to see whatever she wanted then run back to her post before Naraku noticed. It shouldn't mattered, she was damned from the start, right?

_Right_.

The past couple of times she'd gone without Albino Tag-Along she searched for Sesshomaru. The routes she'd taken were scenic and more than once Kagura had tried reasoning she was only enjoying what little of the world she was allowed to see; but one way or another she found herself trailing after the Western Lord.

_But I never actually saw him. I just ran into his posse. That's coincidence._

Kagura socked a fist in the air, trying to punch a second moon of light out of the darkened sky.

_But he covered for me…There's still hope…_

She flipped on to her stomach, snarling in frustration.

_Girl, you are such a pathetic fool._

That one little moment was playing havoc on her judgment. She'd have to stop banking on it. It wasn't as if Sesshomaru had ever come looking for her himself. Every time had either been coincidence or by her own volition.

Back in her wind-surfing crouch, Kagura zoomed into the distance. She had only one destination in mind: away. Away from Naraku, away from Sesshomaru, away from troubles, away from this abysmal hell.

_Faster!_

Her feather became a comet, streaking across the navy blue backdrop. She didn't slow until she was skimming the teeth of the jagged shoreline cliffs, until her chest began to squeeze smaller and smaller. Gasping, wavering, Kagura painfully landed. When the world stopped reeling, she sat up; strange, she didn't remember crashing.

"I guess I went too far out."

She didn't bother spitting the words. What was the point? Somewhere in the background the sea lapped on the sandy shores just over the edge of her own rocky perch. Dumbly, Kagura dusted off a stray twig. Past the clearing, the trees of the forest shadowed the return route inland.

_The coast is my limit. I'll never know what's beyond that sea. _

Even as the contractions subsided, Kagura didn't remount her feather. Right now, flying would be too cruel. Maybe she should head back, the moon had crept high overhead.

_But he hasn't called for me yet. I don't want to go back. What should I do? _

Her legs were shaking, but Kagura stood. By counted breaths, she straightened her posture. Swallowing her stomach for the fourth time, she started out with poised and practiced steps, but the tremor in her ankle didn't go unnoticed.

_What if Naraku calls right now? _

The waves pounded the grainy shore below, a crowd demanding a decision already.

_To hell with them all. Enjoy yourself, dammit! _

A breeze whistled through the foliage – a flute on its lowest key. Eyes closed, Kagura focused on the even rise and fall of the wind. Suddenly it pitched, on that note she whirled into action. Zipping open her fan, Kagura danced with complete abandon, her red and white kimono flapping to reveal glimpses of her long, bare legs. Ebony hair came loose, tumbling over her shoulders as she flung her head forward. Gusts kicked up and the wind witch's dance grew wilder.

A two-beat metronome beat in her head with the sea's waves.

_Free me, free me, free me._

Uninhibited, when she moved the world melted away. She was skinless, boneless, formless – free. When she came out of a twist nothing stopped her from springing into a leap. Kagura's fan snapped out boldly, slicing the air, daring the stars above to flinch first.

_Free me, free me. _

Out here she could defy gravity. Manacles were crushed, scars erased, she was free to go, to breathe, to love, to hate…

_To be! Free me!_

Her thoughts, unbound, became a whirlwind filling the void in her chest. At the heart of the vortex swirled hopes, dreams, memories of joy, the wind's gentle caress, the rush of storm surfing, and of sunshine, a young girl's smile, flowers, and of trust, security, Sesshomaru.

_Free, free, free._

And among these memories swam even pain. Not the physical torment of being heartless; no, the sweet agony that comes with care, comrades. Knowing you're not alone in the world because there are those who have found you, they came looking for you, and your heart's bursting just at the sight of them. The pain that came with living. It was the most Kagura could ask with but one request more.

_"Free me!"_

And the Dragon's Dance roared to life. Twin twisters clashed, ripping deep-rooted oaks and tossing boulders like pebbles in their wake. Spinning and crashing, they eroded some of the cliff's edge, tearing away their platform like snakes that ate their own tails.

Kagura twirled between the tornados, her eyes closed and arms liquid as she was a lost in a dance all her own. Gradually, the wild leaps stopped and her steps slowed. Then her fan snapped closed. Unexpectedly gently, the twisters faded, their tails turning to wisps as Kagura's feet steadily stopped spinning.

_It's almost anticlimactic_, she thought, or at least before sapphire lightening shredded across the ground.

"What in all the – ?"

For a split second the lightening morphed to resemble a real dragon; its finned, beaked face emitting a shrill cry – an almost exultant sound. Kagura watched mesmerized up to the instant it crackled and disappeared.

The spell was broken when the dragon faded, and Kagura hurled wind blades in the initial direction of the lightening beast. An eyeblink later, the clearing of trees revealed her real audience.

"A man is it?" Kagura couldn't help the smile that played on her lips. It was all too familiar with a little twist.

"Take your hand from your weapon," Sesshomaru ordered. "I didn't come here to fight."

Pretending she hadn't heard the amusement in his voice either, Kagura hopped over a trench the Dragon Strike had clawed into the earth. "Looks like you've gotten around to mastering that blade."

Sesshomaru shrugged. "The ogre's fangs were sufficient."

"I told you that you could keep it."

"Hmm," Sesshomaru droned distractedly, more concerned with how Kagura had managed to get within arm's reach. He idly breathed in her scent, only because it was part of the atmosphere.

"So how long were you spying on me?"

Sesshomaru cocked a brow. "Spying? I was owed a dance from before."

Kagura blinked, surprised he'd actually remembered that last time. She recovered quicker now. "Did you like what you saw?"

The daiyokai gave a one shoulder shrug. "My opinion won't change your own satisfaction."

Smothering a growl, Kagura thought of something else. "Where you looking for me?"

"I was already here."

_Well…damn._ But it only reassured her resolve. She was on her own. No one was looking out for her. Best to down the bitter truth serum now.

"You're endangering yourself again."

Kagura's head snapped up at the sudden comment. "So? Happens just by me breathing."

Sesshomaru ignored the outburst. "Huh, one would think you'd want to be alive to enjoy your freedom."

The wind witch was taken aback. "What's that supposed to – ?"

"Go." There was nothing kind about the dog-demon's tone.

Her mouth opened to speak, but Sesshomaru silenced Kagura with a wave of his hand. "You're tarrying, Naraku will be suspicious. Go." He turned his back to her, making it apparent there would be no repetition.

Kagura huffed at the direct order, but Pretty Boy had a point. "Yeah, later." The feather spun her skyward, but she still surveyed the terrible, beautiful wreckage twisters and Sesshomaru's Dragon Strike.

Huh, so he was here before me…But he stayed long enough to show off afterward. A little smile crept up on Kagura. She remembered the gorgeous ferocity of the electric monster. She thought of how Sesshomaru could have interrupted her at any moment earlier if he wanted a He had waited until she was finished.

_Better than any standing ovation yet. _

Kagura stroked the soft white edges of her plume, dreaming of fur instead of feather.

_Hopefully, there'll be more of these dances to come. _

_-- _

_A/N: Thanks for your patience with the updates. I'll be updating this and "Xenophobia" on a regular basis the rest of this week. Thank you for reading._


	17. This Delicate Heart Condition

**This Delicate Heart Condition**

Freedom wasn't what Kagura had fathomed. It was much more quiet, very still, and excruciatingly painful. Inside, her heart moved. Not the little organ of her imagination, the real thing.

She had her heart back. Kagura finally had her heart; but the pulse was all wrong, skipping and twisting with each throb of corrosive poison. Every toxic beat was an insult, mocking her efforts. Naraku had stripped her of herself. That which she'd so vied for now was her undoing, her death. Kagura's thoughts came in short little spurts like her pulse.

_Where will I go from here? I can go anywhere. I'm free. _

She tried to move. The poison bound her limbs, eating away at life and will.

_Dammit, I can't move. _

The sizzle of rotting flesh was deafening. A putrid stench overpowered the sweetness of swaying blossoms in the field. Sesshomaru's kid would've liked those flowers. Sesshomaru…

_It's so quiet. There's no one._

Bright ruby eyes dulled to bloodstone jasper. Kagura's vision blurred and the pain subsided as her mind drifted. She could always spend these last moments as she had in the rest of her short life: in her head, dreaming of a better life that didn't exist, that would never come.

Sesshomaru stood before her. Her imagination had finally won out. Kagura didn't fight it. The mirage stared dispassionately back at her. Then exhaled. His breath was so warm. So real. Did she dare let herself think?

_Sesshomaru…_

He stepped forward.

It _was_ him. He would spend these last few seconds with her. He'd come for her of his own accord.

"I came following after the scent of Naraku's shouki."

_Yup, no illusion._

"Heh." Her own imagination wasn't that cold. "You'll be disappointed. Naraku isn't here." Now if the jerk would just go away and let her die.

"I knew that it was you."

Kagura hiccupped. Her heart was bursting. "I see," she managed.

_You knew and so you came. _

Gentle breezes tugged at Sesshomaru's sleeves, beseeching, but the daiyokai kept himself carefully aloof. The distance that seemed to have been closing with their encounters was reestablished. Crumpled on her knees before him, she looked nothing like the proud, fiery woman he'd first met. She wasn't even vulnerable. She was broken. She had been alone in the world. There would be no one to mourn for her.

Unbidden, Sesshomaru's hand traveled to the knotwork of his second sword's hilt. He stopped before he drew it. A powerful acid ate away No head and neck would remain of this wasting form. Naraku had made certain nothing would be left at all. Not hair or hide to give any credence to her existence.

_Tenseiga is not able to save her._

It was useless. Sesshomaru felt his chest constrict. Were hearts always so fragile? Did watching one decay always arouse such sympathy in another? He tried to dismiss it as a psychosomatic. He looked away. His heart squeezed more.

_Stop_, he commanded himself. His gaze settled on Kagura again and the pangs ceased. "…Are you going?"

"Yeah, it's fine." She wasn't alone anymore. She wasn't empty inside. Someone would know she was here, she had lived, her struggles wouldn't go written on the wind.

_In the end, I was with you._

And she smiled.

Sesshomaru felt his throat tighten. This was the second time he had ever made anyone smile. But this round there was no keeping her with him.

Suddenly a violent gale washed over him and all was lost; the beautiful wind witch, her voice, her eyes, her scent, dreams, aspirations, will. All but Kagura's freedom.

Around something so thin and light it might as well have been air, Sesshomaru curled his fingers tightly around the last essence of the wind witch. So soft and light, as if it was just this side of existence.

He made to go.

"Hey! Sesshomaru!"

It was Inuyasha and his motley pack.

"Kagura…" the hanyo's voice faltered before he continued. "Was she suffering?"

Sesshomaru tipped his head to the heavens. Kagura's second weather still wafted above, bobbing on the last currents of yoki.

"She was smiling."

The daiyokai kept walking, the wild, free wind ruffling his bangs and fur, almost threatening to carry away the last remnant he had of Kagura. He tucked it deeper into his garments, all the more secure. Perhaps, he could grant this little piece a bit longer to know the beating of a pulse. His second heart, the one that hadn't shattered.

--

_A/N: Perhaps one of the most poignant chapters in the _InuYasha _series. I hope I was able to do it decent justice. This isn't the end of my set, though. So stay tuned for more._


	18. A Swordsman's Soul

**A Swordsman's Soul**

Swords were the souls of their wielders. In their waking hours, warriors never removed them. Asleep, the arms were close at hand. The nature of each blade reflected the swordsman. Dull and blunt, he was an irresponsible lout. Dried blood that was never cleaned augured a violent snake. Unique in the Gothic rapier style of the Far Western Lands, Tokijin had been tempered without a traditional arc, instead it was straight and narrow for quick, direct assaults. Unbending and unforgiving it was a blade forged from revenge. Considering Sesshomaru's vindictive streak, it was a fitting weapon. The daiyokai had his own brand of justice and the ogre's fangs had exacted it well.

But then Tokijin shattered. A blade born of hate had been destroyed by compassion.

Sesshomaru still wasn't certain if he agreed with that idea. He just knew he had been enraged. Anger still seeped into his smoldering aura. That had felt sensible, justifiable, real. Moryumaru tossed about the lowest of insults. He'd dared to call Kagura's death invalid. That it had been in vain.

At that, Sesshomaru's blood boiled. Sacrifices shouldn't be in vain. He had enough experience – or would that be empathy? – to understand giving a piece of yourself, losing a limb, losing your way for an unattainable dream. Kagura never had the sense to give up, she had been stubborn until death. What did Moryumaru, that pile of demonic trash, know of that?

Sesshomaru glowered back at his reflection in the stream. Somewhere the Tokijin lay defunct. Useless to him, to anyone. Sesshomaru couldn't have it repaired. Kaijinbo was dead. He didn't need it repaired. He was daiyokai, an arsenal of natural defenses were built into his body. Sesshomaru didn't want it repaired. Kagura had allowed him to keep Tokijin, like a gift – or a loan. It was ruined, she was dead, it wasn't his to fix; he wouldn't refute his word that he'd broken it in her name.

The water slipped by causing his reflection to waver, the features shift. Sesshomaru smelled salt. Now that didn't make any sense since the stream was fresh water. He snarled softly, though not sure at whom. Himself? Kagura's memory? Goryumaru?

_Kagura's death in vain?_

Sesshomaru focused on his tattered sleeve. His remaining arm bruised and bloodied from battle.

_Huh. Only so many scratches._

But he was rarely ever harmed in battle. Had he dared let his emotions flare up so? Only when he let himself to be consumed with the tunnel vision of killing did he lose control enough to do damage to himself.

_Or in vengeance. _

Vengeance for what? Kagura was dead; she had passed smiling, not shrieking for vindication. That didn't explain why he'd grown so heated at Moryumaru's words.

He could hear Rin and Jaken idly chattering in the background. White noise in his clashing thoughts.

Suddenly the sky darkened, the ground shook.

_What now?_

A lightening bolt struck just meters away. And took the form of a three-eyed bull. "Moo," it announced. For a full second Sesshomaru's eyes didn't register the wiry old demon on top of the beast.

Totosai sat there, wide white eyes staring back expectantly. Had he just babbled something about reforging a fighting Tenseiga?

Sesshomaru straightened.

Did souls get second chances? The daiyokai stared at Tenseiga as he had the first time he'd drawn it.

_Time for another test. _


	19. Not in Vain

**Not in Vain**

It was a beautiful night, the kind where lovers slip away to find their own blissful seclusion with the stars glittering and the moon high overhead.

The evening did nothing to lift Sesshomaru's foul mood. He was wasting his time in the middle of hunting grounds that were frequented by only the lowliest of yokai, he was unarmed, and Totosai was late.

The daiyokai felt awkward, almost incomplete without a familiar weight at his hip. Why had he handed over Tenseiga to that senile, decrepit demon in the first place? On a whim? Because Totosai had said his heart had changed? To learn what exactly that change was? To strengthen himself? But why should he trust that old swordsmith so suddenly? Totosai had never kept his promises in the past to give him a new blade. Why did he just relinquish Tenseiga now? How desperate was he to get a new blade?

Desperate?

No, he was not desperate; Sesshomaru did not get desperate, he never ran out of options.

The image of soft smiling face flitted before him like a butterfly.

He growled under his breath. She was dead the day he met her, Naraku had her heart and there would have been no saving her. Dead and gone, she was still lurking in the chasms of his mind.

Another frustrated reverberation rumbled from Sesshomaru's throat. His thought wandered too much. Where the hell was – ?

A thundering ker-thump and off-handed greeting mercifully jarred the dog-demon from his ruminations. He didn't speak until the Heaven Fang was back in his grip. "Humph, Totosai, if you've done a poor job with Tenseiga I think your life is over."

Sesshomaru took dark pleasure in the swordsmith's scowl. Totosai could go ahead and think the Western Lord's heart had changed, but that didn't alter one's personality.

A graceful slash and one dead ogre later, Sesshomaru marveled privately at the black, dazzling arc Tenseiga had unlocked. He rather liked this improvement and listened with some keen interest to Totosai's explanation.

The dark path of dawn's moon, Meidou Zangetsuha. An inescapable void that could silence wagging tongues, the same who would dare say a valiant death was in vain. A death met with a smile.

_Whether or not her death was in vain is for me to decide._

"Totosai."

"Huh?" The codger's head snapped up at Sesshomaru's gruff tone. Plucking neurotically at the loose threads in his sleeves, Sesshomaru sounded dissatisfied enough, and one question beat through Totosai's brain: how was the ruthless dog-demon going to kill him?

Sesshomaru made his proclamation. "The fighting Tenseiga, I will definitely take it."

Totosai sighed his relief, Sesshomaru was already ignoring him again. The daiyokai seemed enraptured in something else altogether.

Sesshomaru stood passively. A direct answer wouldn't fall from the sky, he knew and yet, sudden and cool like the rush of an invisible ocean, a playful gust washed over him, tousling his mane. Sesshomaru could feel the rigidity leave his posture, carried off by the wind.

That was reply enough.

"Let's go."

--

_A/N: One more chapter to come. _


	20. Vindicated

**Vindicated**

Alone on a grassy ledge, Sesshomaru's gazed traced the village below and skimmed to the mountain range punctuating the horizon. The sky was clear and blue, the landscape serene. At first glance, one could have said the same of the daiyokai's expression: tranquil, serene – it wasn't.

Amber eyes smoldering with uncertainty, the faint creases at the corners of Sesshomaru's mouth deepened.

Naraku was dead, Magatsuhi – the wicked spirit of the Shikon Jewel that had started this whole mess to begin with – had fallen at Sesshomaru's own blade. The Heaven Fang may not have been able to save a fallen comrade, but at least it was useful at exacting revenge.

And now his task was complete. Kagura was avenged. And now...what?

Sesshomaru's own freedom of his personal obligation was moments from being realized. But why did he...hesitate? He rationalized that he was savoring victory, but a smaller voice in mind mumbled something else. Was he worried he would now lose Kagura permanently? Well, there should be no question in that; she was gone. But at least when he was fighting, Sesshomaru felt he could still claim ties to her. Now with his cause vindicated, to think about Kagura at this point would be ridiculous. A useless waste of time. Why was his soldier's sense going so impractical right now? It was to time to let go.

Reaching into the folds of his kimono, he withdrew the sole feather he'd guarded since Kagura's death. The soft, white downy barely tickled the inside of his palm. It truly was like holding captive a piece of the wind. Or making prisoner himself. This was it, the last vistage of that woman who, whether she knew it or not, could bespell more than just the dead.

Sesshomaru remained spell-bound to his post, fingers tracing the snowy-white edges of the feather, mesmerized with memorizing the luxurious texture. His fist tightened. How strange to hold one's own heart in hand. And, any minute, lose it.

The stars had crept out before the demon's fingers had uncurled.

"To each his own."

Sesshomaru watched the sky until the feather was out of even his own keen sight. He squinted as it drifted farther and farther away. Memory seemed to have placed a rider on the pinnate figure.

_Enough of this._

He pivoted to go.

The wind whispered gently in his ear, like sharing a wicked little secret. Sesshomaru stiffened. His fur fluffed by a noticeably warm breeze.

"Kagura?"

The gusts pitched, mischievously ruffling his bangs and twining silver tendrils together. Sesshomaru pointed his nose upwards, feigning disinterest. She _would_ be waiting.

Then there was a soft chuckle in the wind. Sesshomaru didn't know if it was his...or _hers_. More perplexing, he didn't care.

"Such a distressing damsel."

--

_A/N: This is now the writer's turn to ramble. If you'd like to review before the fuzzy-wuzzy feeling of the last chapter wears off please do so now. I'll gladly reply to PMs regarding this afterward. You've been warned._

_Finally, the last chapter. Woot! I'm sorry it took so long to update, but I'd like thank everyone who has taken the time to sit down and read this from start to finish. Domo arigato gozaimasu with a big, fluffy mokomoko on top! Thank you for patronizing this personally favorite pairing of the IY fandom. I mean, c'mon, as sweet and cute InuxKag and MirxSan are, let's face it, they end up together. As I once read, Sesshomaru + Kagura = bad-assed couple._

_For more SesshxKagu, check out these:_

_YouTube's animetributes (a prolific video crafter, chances are you'll find something up your alley)._

_Perhaps two of the best videos not by animetributes would be: "Kagura – Watch the Sky" and "Gift: Kagura, Won't Say I'm in Love."_

_And for that sweet 'lil happily-ever-after, try on this site for Aryndiel's "Kamikaze."_

_Okay, I've got the whole champagne bubbles out of me. Now about the chapters, I tried to stick to manga as much as possible. Actually, the first SesshxKagu piece I wrote was entitled "Renewal" (which could actually work as a prologue to this final chapter); never having written romance before, I decided I was on safe terms with this pairing. Sesshomaru isn't mushy and Kagura certainly isn't either. Sesshomaru's concern for Kagura remained almost entirely on business terms until his (canon) encounter in Vol. 36 with her when he watches the wind witch leave with this slightly worried expression (given the oh so vast range of Sesshomaru's features, knitted eyebrows like in that panel have gotta mean something). Kagura, too, came to Sesshomaru as more than just an escape rope. When she gave up hope, essentially resigning herself onto death, she wanted to see him one last time. The life she'd been fighting so hard to obtain was placed on the backburner just for a glimpse of Sesshomaru. And then everything goes to hell in a hand-basket from there._

_I wanted to keep Kagura around a bit longer, but had already made plans to let her go in Ch 17 (it was appropriate since her "age" according to Takahashi was seventeen). I was going to end this collection at Ch 19 (Sesshomaru's physical appearance), but there needed to be a sense of closure. Chapter 20 took a while not because I was strapped for ideas, but that's when midterms came up. ^^; Anyway, if you read the last chapter carefully, I didn't really have the heart (no pun on the misfortune of wind-witches intended) to kill Kagura off. I don't quite see her as being reincarnated any time soon (she did get her freedom, after all), but – as is the case with any fairytale – I can't stop wishing for a happy ending._


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